The hills are alive: Drury Lane brings the Sound of Music to Burlington

The cast and crew are hard at work on rehearsals for the Drury Lane production of The Sound of Music, which will run throughout November at the New Street theatre.

In the company's latest newsletter, Director Lauren Shepherd provides some behind-the-scenes insight on the upcoming show.

"The vision for this particular production deviates from what you typically see at Drury Lane," she says, noting that while there will still be singing nuns and all the iconic Sound of Music Moments, the production attempts to blur the lines between performance and reality and immersing the audience into the world of the theatre.

"We have drawn from Van Gogh's post-impressionistic style for the design and digital painting of our mountain backdrop," noted Shepherd. "This particular artwork was created by Megan Swaffer, a graduate of Sheridan, who recently immigrated to Canada. The choice of artist speaks to the story of our VonTrapp family as they are forced to flee and become refugees and the innate differences between refugee and immigrant, that are yet somehow consistently conflated and experienced as derogatory even by today's standards."

Shepherd added that Van Gogh's style was adopted because it is conceptual rather than factual, "as it expresses the emotion of the surrounding world" - something the show aims to create in both the VonTrapps' world and the theatre itself. 

The "blurring of the lines" between the two worlds will carry over into other functions, such as characters helping with scene changes, said the director.

"This commentary on how the public and private lives are often too entangled has been extremely helpful to the actors in creating their throughlines and backstories," says Shepherd. "The minute they exit the dressing room, they will likely be on view - so there is no unobserved preparation of character. And the audience will notice that only specific characters move objects, which again, offers further commentary on these blurred lines between what is private, what is public, who is performing, and who has control.

"When you have a musical production that is so embedded with the polar opposites of control/restriction and freedom, it is important to reinforce these themes within the action both on and off stage," she added. 

For more details on Drury Lanes upcoming season and tickets, visit online at www.drurylane.ca.